BGF Villa

Padua, Italy

Photo © Michele Franzina

Photo © Fotografia Salmaso

Photo © Michele Franzina

Architects: FPA Franzina + Partners Architettura

Location: 35100 Padua, Italy
Year: 2012

BGF house design principles:

1. horizontal planes - the building is defined by two large horizontal planes covered in black slate: a plate basement and a flat roof;

2. boxes - volumes between the two large slabs are functionally and architecturally diversified: the first, clad in stone piasentina, spread over two floors and contains at the ground floor, the garage and the storage room, at the first floor bedroom, bathroom and wardrobe. The second volume, one floor high covered in gres, contains the kitchen. The third, hanging from the roof, has a prismatic shape: it is finished in plaster and contains a bedroom facing south. The connections between the “boxes” are in glass to keep all the elements visible from the outside;

3. connections - a hidden staircase connects the ground floor to the first floor. On the first floor a boardwalk, suspended over the empty double-height as a bridge, connects the “boxes”. The design features emphasize the lightness (metal profiles, wood slats floor, glass railings);

4. wall - the building is completely closed to the north by a wall in bare reinforced concrete. The only openings on the ground floor (the small windows of the bathroom and the laundry room, the door of the central heat and the garage door), are covered in order to not be visible in the septum wall. The building opens on the south looking out through the large glass wall the surrounding garden.

5. space - particular attention has been paied to the quality of the interior space. The common areas, between the volumes, are double-height and crossed by the suspended bridge, they allow the use of a airy and articulate space, while maintaining the vision of the individual elements of the composition, characterized by simple shapes, smooth surfaces and different materials.